Virii
by Silent Steel
Summary: Set after the third season, yet begun before I'd seen any of the fourth season (which at the time of this summary, I still haven't). Delving into Phong and Mainframe's past through it's present.
1. Author's Notes And First Chapter

Disclaimer: The characters of Reboot, the system of Mainframe, and all other such Rebootish things are copyright to Mainframe Entertainment Inc, and to some extent Alliance . . . dang, can never remember the full name. Please don't sue, I cannot afford savage attack lawyers, or even an attack chihuahua.   
  
Although a MST3K-ing would be welcome. Just tell me where you put it up, neh? :  
  
I also fully appologize to Slack and Hash, my unwitting and unknowing muses in the writing of this fic. May they forgive the lunacy my viewing of their creativity has spawned, and snitching lines from their '10 things I would Like say' page. Their beyond lovely Reboot website (with some of the BEST fanfic & art I've seen!) is at: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/slachash/  
  
Full cheers, praise, and maniacal laughter for Hanako! Without the List to help keep my ego pricked /before/ my friends could read this . . . well, I'd be getting a LOT more teasing than I am now. And those who post at The Lists forums, for saying things that have made me   
laugh, and kept me generally level while writing this. May they not lynch me with rubber penguins and fried green tomatos.  
  
My own loony webpage is at: http://www.geocities.com/coravix/  
All flames will be re-directed to the incinerator, my brother's bedroom, or used to cook oatmeal.  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
This is a Reboot fanfiction from the slightly questionably sane mind of Silent Steel. Spellcheck, a beta reader, Insane Asylum Inmate #1457, and several cans of Pepsi1 were utilized in the creation of this fanfic. While seasons 1-3 of Reboot have been declared absolute canon in the creation of this fic and will be followed to the best that human   
memory can manage without DVD or videotape assistance, post and pre timeline of the series has been declared open territory.   
  
And somebody already shot the 'No Hunting' sign. With buckshot.  
  
  
Time equivilents:  
  
Pica = Second  
  
Nano = Minute  
  
Micro = Hour  
  
Cycles = Day/24hours  
  
Kilo = Month  
  
Second = Year  
  
(Yes, I know it sounds dumb, but it works in my head. Which says something about the state of my mind)  
  
-------------  
  
### Warning: Incoming Fanfiction###  
  
  
Virii  
  
By Silent Steel  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
*bbbrrring*  
  
"Mmph. Speak."  
  
"Hey, got a first-class rip on the market, galactic shine, if you get what I mean . . . if you're interested, there's no bartering."  
  
"So . . you're saying this game'll rock my world? And you're /not/ going to discuss lowering the price? You turd. This had better be worth it."  
  
"Yah, yah, it is. Now, shaddup about the price already, eh? It's not like I'm charging you more than half of store price."  
  
"The damned compiler you sold me last week wasn't even worth /half/ the store price."  
  
"This is worth it. Trust me."  
  
"Only as far as I can throw you."  
  
"Whatever. Meet you at the bus stop. Have the cash on hand."  
  
*click*  
  
- - - ^ - - -   
  
"Mouse luv, open up /just/ a little more . . there we go."  
  
Ray Tracer grinned as the traps around the Mainframe system went down just enough to allow a single ship through, accepting the rather long password. With a flick of the wrist, he beckoned the transport to follow him as he zipped towards the tear.  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
One's first sight of Mainframe was always a memorable one, good or bad.  
  
Bob watched Ray lead the transport in, smiling faintly as he remembered his own two arrivals at Mainframe . . the first time, fresh from the supercomputer, the second after being lost in the web. Both times, he hadn't really known what to expect, but had hoped for the best.   
  
Beside Bob, Mr. Ping, the binome in charge of the port, cleared Ray and the transport for docking. After a few nanos, the binome frowned, and turned to Bob with a snappy salute.  
  
"Requesting virus scan of latest ship, Sir!"  
  
The guardian jumped slightly, having been lost in his memories of the past, and forgotten Mr. Ping was there. The binome sighed, and offered the datapad to Bob, reminding,  
  
"The latest ship, Sir? All incoming vessels are to be virus scanned? The security proceedures enforced by Ms. Matrix?"  
  
"Ah . . sorry Ping, I was remembering things."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"The times I arrived here in Mainframe . . the first time here, and then my return."  
  
Bob gestured towards the ship, with it's waiting load of sprites and binomes, all of them from other systems. Systems that were learning how to fight back. Bob sighed, then added,  
  
"It's just that I have an idea of how they must be feeling."  
  
Mr. Ping adjusted his glasses, looking thoughtfully up at Bob.  
  
"Not quite, Sir. Nothing could be like those days."  
  
"I suppose you're right. Well, off to work."  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
He quietly cursed, clinging to the underside of the dock with barely-extended claws. When were they going to start the blasted scan? This was tiring, especially when he was already half-starved.  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
"And all of them are clean, as well as the ship. I'll be helping Mr. Ping sort them out, so I should be back in a micro."  
  
Bob finished, gesturing to the ship behind him in the view of the vidscreen. Dot nodded, the motion almost missed by Bob as the vidwindow closed. She leaned back, rubbing the bridge of her nose with two fingers. Across the room, Mouse looked up at Dot's tired sigh.  
  
"Workload gettin' to yah, shugah?"  
  
"A bit . . Phong, how /did/ you deal with it?"  
  
"With practice, child, with practice."  
  
The old command.com chuckled, airily waving a hand as the other picked up his cup of cocoa. And ended up spraying the console before him with his first sip of cocoa as the alarms went off.  
  
"SIR! MA'AM! The virus Megabyte has been spotted in sector 31!"  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
Matrix dropped off the zip board to the ground, jolting a nearby small statue, of a one binome with odango, enough that it fell over. The street was quiet, doors and windows on all of the buildings tightly shut, and in many cases, bolted closed. A single page from a newsprint drifted through the air, carried on an errant breeze. Off to one side, AndrAIa was talking to several rattled binomes, primarily male ones, who had been having a party down in one of the many small alleys. One in particular was very vocal, a male zero with red hair and a strangely designed black and white coat.  
  
All things Matrix ignored, activating the targeting system of his gun, bathing the world in shades of red and grey. He stalked down the alley, warily looking for a traces of the virus. He'd checked when they'd arrived for a trackable signal, and come up blank. All there was left was searching for potential clues as to just /what/ Megabyte was up to.  
  
Something crunched under Matrix's left boot. The gung-ho sprite glanced around, and then lifted his boot to reveal a small, round, black stone.   
  
Blatantly not part of the normal scenery in this alley, it gleamed and shone with reflected light. Engraved in the side that faced him was . . . a PID? But a strange one, if that. Square in shape, rather than round . . . and instead of the normal triangles, a pair of   
half-circles made up the inner part. He flipped the stone over, a creeping sensation trickling up his spine. The Silicon Tor was engraved on the reverse side.  
  
"AndrAIa. Get this back to the main offices right away." 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The characters of Reboot, the system of Mainframe, and all other such Rebootish things are copyright to Mainframe Entertainment Inc, and to some extent Alliance . . . dang, can never remember the full name. Please don't sue, I cannot afford savage attack lawyers, or even an attack chihuahua.   
  
Although a MST3K-ing would be welcome. Just tell me where you put it up, neh? :  
  
I also fully appologize to Slack and Hash, my unwitting and unknowing muses in the writing of this fic. May they forgive the lunacy my viewing of their creativity has spawned, and snitching lines from their '10 things I would Like say' page. Their beyond lovely Reboot website (with some of the BEST fanfic & art I've seen!) is at: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/slachash/  
  
Full cheers, praise, and maniacal laughter for Hanako! Without the List to help keep my ego pricked /before/ my friends could read this . . . well, I'd be getting a LOT more teasing than I am now. And those who post at The Lists forums, for saying things that have made me   
laugh, and kept me generally level while writing this. May they not lynch me with rubber penguins and fried green tomatos.  
  
My own loony webpage is at: http://www.geocities.com/coravix/  
All flames will be re-directed to the incinerator, my brother's bedroom, or used to cook oatmeal.  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
This is a Reboot fanfiction from the slightly questionably sane mind of Silent Steel. Spellcheck, a beta reader, Insane Asylum Inmate #1457, and several cans of Pepsi1 were utilized in the creation of this fanfic. While seasons 1-3 of Reboot have been declared absolute canon in the creation of this fic and will be followed to the best that human   
memory can manage without DVD or videotape assistance, post and pre timeline of the series has been declared open territory.   
  
And somebody already shot the 'No Hunting' sign. With buckshot.  
  
  
Time equivilents:  
  
Pica = Second  
  
Nano = Minute  
  
Micro = Hour  
  
Cycles = Day/24hours  
  
Kilo = Month  
  
Second = Year  
  
(Yes, I know it sounds dumb, but it works in my head. Which says something about the state of my mind)  
  
-------------  
  
### Warning: Incoming Fanfiction###  
  
  
Virii  
  
By Silent Steel  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
"Strange . . . this was all that was found?"  
  
Dot asked, looking at the black stone in her hand. AndrAIa shrugged, gesturing towards the map and the vidwindow that still showed the alley behind Matrix as she said,  
  
"The binomes said something cut through the wall, and then demanded to know about Phong . . . all they ever saw was a shadow on the wall they /swear/ was Megabyte's."  
  
"Sis . . . this cut nearly goes through the /entire wall/. Whatever caused this, it wasn't Megabyte's claws. For him to put enough force to do this would also break the wall. By the look of it, I would guess some sort of blade, possibly a sword or dagger, might even be a halberd."  
  
Matrix added, shifting the vidwindow in the alley to show the wall more clearly. Dot winced back from the damage, silently digesting what Matrix said.  
  
"Halberd?"  
  
"Sorry Sis . . a blade roughly the length of your forearm on the end of a staff. It's used a bit differently then, say, a spear. This cut's long enough and at the right angle for it."  
  
"I'll take your word for it. AndrAIa, did they say what answers they gave him about Phong?"  
  
"Pretty basic . . just that Phong was assistant to the Command.Com, and worked in the Principle Office. They didn't know much, and aparently, he left when he figured that out. Without harming or infecting /any/ of them."  
  
"That's pretty odd for Megabyte . . . are they certain it was him?"  
  
"They're convinced of it. Of course, fear can do that."  
  
Matrix frowned, leaning towards the vidwindow, or more accurately towards something on the other side of the vidwindow. Of course, on his sister's side in the principle office, that gave them a rather splendid up-the-nostril view of him before he shoved the vidwindow out of his way.  
  
The view careened dizzily in the vidwindow as it spun around, until Dot reached through and brought it to a stop.  
  
"Matrix . . what is it?"  
  
In her vidwindow, Dot and AndrAIa watched Matrix peruse the opposite wall of the alley, tracing something he could see with steady fingers. Finally, the green titan of a sprite tossed some words over his shoulder.  
  
"Sis, look into the archives . . . There's something odd about this pattern. Oh, and send someone with paint so I can mark it out for you guys."  
  
"I'm right on it, Lover."  
AndrAIa said, maximizing her zip board. As the others set about their tasks, and the vidwindow closed, Dot lifted the stone yet again to look at it. A PID. The Tor. Both not quite the same as the ones she knew.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"There is a problem, my child?"  
  
Briefly, panic clawed at Dot before she recognized Phong's voice. The young Command.Com turned slowly, holding the stone out to Phong, watching the old one's eyes go wide. His hand trembled as he picked up the stone, lifting it from her hand. Abruptly, Phong's eyes   
narrowed, and he opened up his drawer. From it, he lifted a second stone, white as the other was black, but otherwise identical. Abruptly, the stones snapped together, briefly hovering in the air together before falling back into Phong's hand. Now one stone, with a   
PID etched in black on the white side, the strange version of the Silicon Tor in white on the reverse side.  
  
"It is . . . "  
  
Phong breathed, folding his hands around the stone, closing his eyes as well. Dot leaned away slightly, a worry slowly gnawing up her spine as she watched Phong.  
  
"Phong . . what is it?"  
  
The old one opened his eyes, and Dot shrank away again, unable to do aught but retreat at the fire of emotion showing in Phong's eyes, the soft edge to his voice.  
  
"Child . . . where was this found?"  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Matrix's scowl deepened as he ran his fingers over the slash in the wall. This was the fourth one in only six cycles.  
  
"AndrAIa! We've got another one!"  
  
"/Again/? Same spot on the wall?"  
  
Matrix leaned back, taking the spray can AndrAIa was holding out. A few quick shakes, and the pattern was quickly outlined in pink paint, showing up dark red of raw brick against it.  
  
"Yup . . same depth, same height from the ground . . . wait a nano . . . ."  
  
Paint can still in hand, Matrix stepped further down the wall, staring intently a faint depression in the bricks. Moments later, he placed his hand in the depression, both their eyes widened at finding not only was it a /sprite-like/ handprint complete with four fingers and not the standard viral three . . . larger than Matrix's hand. Pink paint whooshed out of the can, as AndrAIa carefully filled in the depression to make it easier to see.  
  
A brief pause passed.  
  
"Why did you pick pink?"  
  
"It's what was on hand."  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
Further down the alley, and just beyond a shadowed corner, he watched the two, eyes narrowing in thought. He could /feel/ the ordered energy around them, feel it flow through their code . . . Interesting. She had been correct, in that at least. But now was not the time. He leaned back into the shadows, waiting for AndrAIa and Matrix to leave. It was best to not over-reach himself by trying for more than binomes, for now.  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
Dot drummed her fingers on the edge of the console, staring down at the map of the city. Five spots were indicated in red. Five times that Megabyte's shadow had been spotted or his voice had been heard. Five places that something had slashed into the nearest wall, leaving a thin, deep cut. Five times, a binome had been found missing, the latest time a total of three binomes missing. Morale among the binomes was, understandably, very low with overtones of terror. Among the sprites of Mainframe, including the sometimes annoying presences of Hack, Slash, and Mike the TV . . . the overall mood was of frustration.  
  
"Sonnauvaeggsuckinnullovingun!"  
  
Dot snagged the thrown datapad as it whizzing past her.  
  
"New dead end, Mouse?"  
  
The hacker rubbed a hand over her face, nearly growling in annoyance as she sat up, one hand out for the datapad. A near-silent chorus of beeps rang out from the console that Mouse sat at, marking off the findings of the system scan.  
  
"Worse than that, shugah . . what ah found just /ruined/ what ah'd thought might be some new leads. Ah cain't find a single trace nor touch of any virus in the system. All ah get is registered PIDs on this, even with what ah've added tah the program. There's some web energy throwin' off the scan around the docks, but Ray's there so ah can't even consider that a good lead . . . "  
  
As Mouse's head dropped to her arms with an exasperated sigh, the doors to the command center quietly slid open, revealing the gold and red form of Phong. The ancient sprite drifted into the room, a photo album and a datapad tucked under one arm, a mug of cocoa carried in the opposite hand.  
  
"Any news, my children?"  
  
Dot gestured to the map with her free hand as she gave Mouse back the thrown datapad.  
  
"I'm afraid not . . . nothing's shown up on the scans, and every time, whoever this is manages to be long gone by the time we arrive. Did you find anything on that PID?"  
  
"I'm afraid not, my child."  
Phong bowed his head in thought, absently setting the datapad and photo album down on the edge of the system map.  
  
"Mouse, have you looked into seeing if the locations match a pattern?"  
  
"Ah have, Phong, but they don't match any of the criminal activity patterns in the database at all."  
  
Mouse replied, moving over to stand next to Phong, placing her fist on her hip. Phong's wise gaze rose to stare Mouse directly in the eyes . . . oh, the wonders of an extendable neck.  
  
"Perhaps you could look into other patterns, possibly symbols?"  
  
He suggested gently.  
  
"Not all things have a criminal basis, my child, as you well know."  
  
The look Mouse shot him as she stalked back to her terminal could have leveled buildings . . . or melted the hardest of hearts. Either way, Phong thought it best to not comment. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The characters of Reboot, the system of Mainframe, and all other such Rebootish things are copyright to Mainframe Entertainment Inc, and to some extent Alliance . . . dang, can never remember the full name. Please don't sue, I cannot afford savage attack lawyers, or even an attack chihuahua.   
  
Although a MST3K-ing would be welcome. Just tell me where you put it up, neh? :  
  
I also fully appologize to Slack and Hash, my unwitting and unknowing muses in the writing of this fic. May they forgive the lunacy my viewing of their creativity has spawned, and snitching lines from their '10 things I would Like say' page. Their beyond lovely Reboot website (with some of the BEST fanfic & art I've seen!) is at: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/slachash/  
  
Full cheers, praise, and maniacal laughter for Hanako! Without the List to help keep my ego pricked /before/ my friends could read this . . . well, I'd be getting a LOT more teasing than I am now. And those who post at The Lists forums, for saying things that have made me   
laugh, and kept me generally level while writing this. May they not lynch me with rubber penguins and fried green tomatos.  
  
My own loony webpage is at: http://www.geocities.com/coravix/  
All flames will be re-directed to the incinerator, my brother's bedroom, or used to cook oatmeal.  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
This is a Reboot fanfiction from the slightly questionably sane mind of Silent Steel. Spellcheck, a beta reader, Insane Asylum Inmate #1457, and several cans of Pepsi1 were utilized in the creation of this fanfic. While seasons 1-3 of Reboot have been declared absolute canon in the creation of this fic and will be followed to the best that human   
memory can manage without DVD or videotape assistance, post and pre timeline of the series has been declared open territory.   
  
And somebody already shot the 'No Hunting' sign. With buckshot.  
  
  
Time equivilents:  
  
Pica = Second  
  
Nano = Minute  
  
Micro = Hour  
  
Cycles = Day/24hours  
  
Kilo = Month  
  
Second = Year  
  
(Yes, I know it sounds dumb, but it works in my head. Which says something about the state of my mind)  
  
-------------  
  
### Warning: Incoming Fanfiction###  
  
  
Virii  
  
By Silent Steel  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
"So this Megabyte bloke might be back? And he's the one responsible for the system nearly wiping out completely?"  
  
Ray asked, smoothly gliding around a tree that stood in his path through the park. Bob opted for just going over the tree, causing Ray to briefly shake his head in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah . . . biggest headache in my life . . . What's driving me basic is how in the Net did he get back into Mainframe? The last anyone saw of him was when he got yanked into the web, and you got into Mainframe from the same portal. There hasn't been any gates or even really that many tears since the restart."  
  
They both dodged a drinking fountain, and headed downwards, towards the lower levels of Floating Point Park. Only a few binomes were out and about . . . apparently, many were too spooked to risk being out where they might be at risk. Of course the new building on the highest island in the park might have had to do something with it.  
  
"And between you and me, mate, a virus doesn't have a null's chance of sneaking into Mainframe."  
  
"That's what worries me. Someone or something /did/ sneak into Mainframe, and for the life of me, I can't figure out how."  
  
Both of them instinctively ducked as the explosion rang out above them. Exchanging a glance, the two headed up for the source of the noise . . . Hexadecimal's new residence upon the highest island in the park. Just in time to see the place lock itself up tighter than Dot's diary. After a few circles around the tower and no signs of outside damage, the duo came to a stop about midway up the thing.  
  
"Wot caused that now?"  
  
"With Hexadecimal, who knows?"  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
" . . it's simply in case things get out of control, Hexidecimal."  
  
Dot attempted to assure the mildly annoyed virus via vidwindow, carefully keeping a smooth smile in place upon her face. Hexidecimal raised an eyebrow in a sweetly skeptical gesture, leaning her chin on one daintily-clawed hand.  
  
"We do have to make sure the system is safe . . and to put it bluntly, you attract trouble."  
  
Mouse, situated at a control terminal just out of Hexadecimal's field of vision through the vidwindow, raised an eyebrow herself at Dot's apparent lack of tact. Off to one side of the command center, Bit Binome turned to his partner, Byte Binome, and murmured quietly,   
  
"Ten credits she just laughs."   
  
"You're on."  
  
A bet proven to cause Byte to lose ten credits to the sound of Hex's soft laughter. But all humor was shoved aside in moments by the Virus.  
  
"So . . what do I owe this surprise to?"  
  
Dot blinked in surprise at Hexadecimal's question.  
  
"You didn't cause that explosion?"  
  
Hexadecimal fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly at Dot, leaning back in her throne.   
  
"Whyever would I do so?"  
  
Dot glanced down at the terminal in front of her, stifling her annoyance with the ease of long practice, bringing up the records from when the explosion happened.  
  
"According to this . . . the explosion happened within one of the lower levels of your tower."  
  
In the vidwindow, Hex leaned back, blinking a few times in a rather thoughtful manner. With a wave of her hand, she brought up a vidwindow next to her, angled just so. As Dot watched, that thoughtful expression faded into something neutral . . . just before the vidwindow connection between the tower and the principle office was closed with the sharp gesture of one claw, Hex's voice rang out in a startled shriek. Bit Binome fell off his chair from where he'd been doing a victory dance.  
  
Mouse and Dot glanced over at one another in surprise, hands hovering over their respective terminals, the word Hexadecimal had shrieked echoing through their heads. Behind Mouse, Byte helped Bit back to his feet as she said,  
  
"Whatever that honey'd be finding impossible, ah /don't/ want to encountah."  
  
" . . . I worry more about what do /we/ do if Hexidecimal can't, or won't, handle it."  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Phong nodded, lifting the small cage from the cabinet. Jostled by the movement, the small critter inside gave a sleepy whine in protest, before settling back down.   
  
"So that is how."  
  
The one on the other side of the vidwindow nodded, one hand rising briefly to rub over a scar running from left eye to chin.  
"With some consequences."  
  
The door to Phong's office opened quietly as the old command.com headed out, a thermos tucked under one arm, the cage carried in another. Behind him, the vidwindow closed without a single word of farewell. But then, they had never needed many words to say many things.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
They stepped into Dot's Diner, Ray with his board under one arm as usual, Bob with his minimized zip board held loosely in one hand.  
  
"Bob!"  
  
Bob looked up in dread -- only one person ever said his name like that -- and like always, he was a little too late in reacting. Young Enzo crowed victoriously from his new perch on Bob's stomach, chattering away a mile a minute. Questions spilled out of the young sprite's mouth as fast as possible, flooding Bob in a deluge of barely understandable words. At one of the back booths, Matrix shook his head, scratching Frisket behind the ears as he turned to look at AndrAIa. She chuckled softly at the look in his eyes, placing her hands, then her chin, upon his shoulder as she murmured,  
  
"Finding it hard to believe you ever were like that, lover?"  
  
Matrix grunted in reply, turning back to scratch Frisket behind the ears. AndrAIa simply smiled at him.  
  
With young Enzo under one arm, Bob walked the length of the diner to drop the boy on Matrix and AndrAIa's table. The boy blinked in mild startlement a few times before scrambling over to the opposite bench from his elder self. Nearly kicking Bob in the face by accident as the Guardian sat down. Ray opted to sit on his board instead, having it hover level with the seat. Bob cleared his throat, and gave all of them a silencing look, nodding to Dot and Mouse when the vidwindow to the princlple office opened.  
  
"Okay . . . As everyone here knows, we've got a situation on our hands, and as of yet no clear evidence as to /what/ is happening."  
  
Dot nodded once, removing and folding her glasses to set them down, then unconsciously took control of the meeting by sheer presence.  
  
"Thank you, Bob . . . Enzo, Matrix . . I need for you two to stick together."   
A somewhat wry smile briefly crossed Dot's face.   
  
"But Dot! I can take care of myself!"  
Enzo promptly protested, only to get hauled back into his seat by his older self, who grunted in reply,  
"No, you can't . . yet."  
  
The last word was only added due to AndrAIa giving Matrix a look. Matrix transferred his gaze from AndrAIa to Dot, his frown deepening.  
  
"And why me?"  
  
"Because, quite frankly, I trust your reflexes if something goes after you two . . . I need to know you're safe."  
  
Those words definitely caused a few blinks of surprise around the table . . . the Dot of old would /not/ have admitted a weakness. But then, none of them were exactly unchanged, even young Enzo . . . as there was now Matrix in his life. Like it or not, their sister was /not/ giving up her brother again, old or new.  
  
Matrix grunted in surprise, but enough of his annoyance remained for him to speak again.  
"That still doesn't explain why /me/. The principle office should be safe enough."  
  
"Enzo has ancient languages class in five nanos."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Dot gave them a sweet smile.  
"Enzo's teacher was quite relieved to hear you would be there to protect her class on their fieldtrip today . . now, you don't want to be late, do you?"  
  
Matrix's mumbled reply as he snagged Enzo and headed out the door was inaudible . . likely a good thing, as there was a high chance it was also very improper for mixed company. AndrAIa gave the retreating Back Of Matrix (TM), a fond smile before turning her attention to the   
meeting at hand.  
  
"So, what are my marching orders?"  
  
Mouse beat Dot to the punch, as if she'd been waiting for the question. Considering how frazzled she looked, and it took a /lot/ to make Mouse look frazzled, she probably /had/ been waiting.  
"Shugah, ah'm goin' tah need your help here at the Principle Office . . . Phong was helping me, but he said he had somthin' he needed to do in the archives about a compiler."  
  
Bob blinked in surprise, leaning back in his seat.  
  
"Now that's unusual . . . usually you can't pry Phong away from the main rooms of the Principle Office with a crowbar. And how would a compiler help now? I thought Mainframe couldn't run one."  
  
"Apparently the restart included a system upgrade . . . everything's speeding up."  
Dot put in, pulling her glasses back out of her pocket.  
  
"Maybe he thought of something?"  
Ray asked, leaning back on his board to lie flat on his back, the board itself angling up just enough that Ray could still see what's going on, but not so far as to make him slide off. Which he ended up doing anyway out of startlement when outside, the system voice said,  
  
"Warning. Incoming game. Warning. Incoming game."  
  
Both AndrAIa and Bob were out of the diner before Ray lifted his head from the floor. Cecil sniffed haughtily from where he was serving a pair of green-mohawked bondage binomes energy shakes. Even as the system alarms continued to ring, Ray /could/ overhear Cecil's muttered   
comment as the maitre'd headed into the back of the diner.  
"No manners whatsoever. Simply no manners at all." 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The characters of Reboot, the system of Mainframe, and all other such Rebootish things are copyright to Mainframe Entertainment Inc, and to some extent Alliance . . . dang, can never remember the full name. Please don't sue, I cannot afford savage attack lawyers, or even an attack chihuahua.   
  
Although a MST3K-ing would be welcome. Just tell me where you put it up, neh? :  
  
I also fully appologize to Slack and Hash, my unwitting and unknowing muses in the writing of this fic. May they forgive the lunacy my viewing of their creativity has spawned, and snitching lines from their '10 things I would Like say' page. Their beyond lovely Reboot website (with some of the BEST fanfic & art I've seen!) is at: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/slachash/  
  
Full cheers, praise, and maniacal laughter for Hanako! Without the List to help keep my ego pricked /before/ my friends could read this . . . well, I'd be getting a LOT more teasing than I am now. And those who post at The Lists forums, for saying things that have made me   
laugh, and kept me generally level while writing this. May they not lynch me with rubber penguins and fried green tomatos.  
  
My own loony webpage is at: http://www.geocities.com/coravix/  
All flames will be re-directed to the incinerator, my brother's bedroom, or used to cook oatmeal.  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
This is a Reboot fanfiction from the slightly questionably sane mind of Silent Steel. Spellcheck, a beta reader, Insane Asylum Inmate #1457, and several cans of Pepsi1 were utilized in the creation of this fanfic. While seasons 1-3 of Reboot have been declared absolute canon in the creation of this fic and will be followed to the best that human   
memory can manage without DVD or videotape assistance, post and pre timeline of the series has been declared open territory.   
  
And somebody already shot the 'No Hunting' sign. With buckshot.  
  
  
Time equivilents:  
  
Pica = Second  
  
Nano = Minute  
  
Micro = Hour  
  
Cycles = Day/24hours  
  
Kilo = Month  
  
Second = Year  
  
(Yes, I know it sounds dumb, but it works in my head. Which says something about the state of my mind)  
  
-------------  
  
### Warning: Incoming Fanfiction###  
  
  
Virii  
  
By Silent Steel  
  
- - - ^ - - -  
  
The game settled with barely a whisper of sound, and darkened, the wild pulsing of energy settling to the slower, almost dreamy drifting that marked a game in progress.  
  
Mouse shook her head, turning away from the main vidscreen to look at her terminal. With a few taps, the terminal's vidscreen began scrolling through the many security shots that had been received of the site where the game had set down, searching for abnormalties.  
"Ah hope they're all right in there. Whatever it is we've been looking for . . . "  
  
"Could be in there with them, I know."  
Dot slowly turned away from the main vidscreen to look at Mouse, her concern and her worry plain upon her face for once. The steel-nerved Command.Com unfolded her glasses, putting them on. Without a word, both of the sprites turned to her individual tasks, Dot in preparing the defense force to move in at the end of the game, Mouse to continue the search for any link between the incidents and anything within   
Mainframe's past or present.  
  
- - - - - -  
  
It was sweet . . a drugging euphoria of contentment and completion. As he leaned against the wall, limbs loose and barely under his control, the absent thought of how much more intense this must be for /her/ crossed his mind. The laughter bubbled up out of him, light and carefree. It would fade, leaving them hungry again . . but for now, it was a lusciously delightful experience.  
  
A few steps away, the body faded into nothingness.  
  
- - - - - -  
  
Bob and AndrAIa had to wait only a short collection of moments before the scenery of the game unfolded around them. Not quite literally unfolded, as many mathematical shapes almost fell into place to form the walls and floors around them. All in all, like a neon-edged, grey-painted version of home.  
  
They exchanged a glance.  
  
"Are you as disturbed by this game layout as I am?"  
  
"Probably more."  
  
"Do you know what the name is?"  
  
"Let me check . . . GLTron. Apparently the user has to pilot a -- dang, can't tell -- through a maze."  
  
A long moment of silence passed.  
  
" . . Reboot!"  
  
The normal flare of light surrounded both of them . . and one could almost wish for some sort of camera to record their expressions afterwards. AndrAI just stared for a short while, before clearing her throat and speaking,  
"Bob . . you look . . good?"  
  
The last word was somewhat hesitant, as if AndrAIa wasn't quite sure if that was the appropriate word. Bob shook his head as he shrugged, staring at the smooth, curved gauntlets that had appeared on each arm, nearly concealing his hands completely. Thin lines of red light pulsed through the grey, through all of his outfit, except the wrap around his waist. The same had happened with AndrAIa's outfit, although with gauntlets that didn't bulk up as much nor cover more than the back of her hands beyond the wrist. She also didn't have a wrap around her waist.  
  
They stared silently at each other and at their surroundings, watching the red light pulse through everything.  
  
"This should be interesting."  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
Phong folded his fingers togther slowly, settling his hands upon the table before him as he studied the one seated across the table. His opponent was perusing the board between them, the board built into the table . . only six pieces had been placed so far, but both of them   
could already tell it was going to be a long game.  
  
"You've gained skill."  
  
Phong's pet, which he had brought with him, whined as large and familiar fingers brushed over the small cage. Phong, as in his long habit when thinking, set his hands before him, fingertip to fingertip, with the palms far apart.  
  
"He has been a good pet . . . a good reminder."  
  
"Some things do not need to be remembered."  
  
"She is worthy of it."  
  
Silence, this time thick and heavy with memory, unfolded between them. A black stone lifted, and put in place. It was Phong's turn.  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
The game's sprites trooped around them in military preciscion, filing into what appeared to be . . . black pyramids? Not quite that shape, indeed, more rectangular with a snake-like 'hood' at the top where each sprite entered. Like the rest of the landscape, each plane, each angle, was outlined in red light.  
  
AndrAIa was, bluntly, confused by the time Bob started laughing. Just a /little/ impatient, she turned to him, hands upon her hips, and demanded,  
"Care to share the joke?"  
  
"Those are Recognizers!"  
  
AndrAIa turned to stare at the black things, mind blanking briefly from shock. It was little wonder she had noticed a faintly hysterical note in Bob's voice.  
- - - - - - -  
  
"Wait a nano . . . Dot, come take a look."  
  
Mouse changed the display upon the main city map with the push of a button, her other hand beckoning Dot over.  
  
"This PID is /ahncient/, tah judge by the records. And a reserved one, to boot."  
  
"How did you find it?"  
Dot asked, peering through her glasses at the information with the PID. Which wasn't much, a simple log of current energy levels and a record of active times. There was also something else, a number in blue that seperated two of the active times.  
  
"Mouse, what's this?"  
  
"Ahn inactivity time . . but that doesn't make /sense/!" 


End file.
